Unlike most other conservation programs, the CSP rewards farmers for sound environmental practices that they have already implemented on land in food production or pasture. The Wetland Reserve and other similar programs take land out of production, while EQIP underwrites new practices and technology.

The Des Moines Register attributed the 40 percent cut in CSP's funding through 2012 to the difficulty of complying with paygo spending rules while still supporting expanded renewable fuels, conservation and nutrition programs in the 2007 Farm Bill.  The Register reported that the program was slated to receive $2.8 billion rom 2008 through 2012. Fewer than 20,000 of America's farmers currently participate in CSP, although many who have applied to the program have been turned away due to earlier funding cuts.

In a press conference streamed live on the Internet last Thursday, Peterson claimed

these other proven programs are higher priority than CSP. We think some significant changes are needed to CSP. It's too complicated and I'm not sure its priorities are set up right. So we're focusing on making changes to it to make it more effective going forward.. . .

We're funding CSP but not at the level Sen. Harkin wants.

Peterson claimed that he was not eliminating CSP, but "taking a break from sign-up" until 2012. The Democrat also objects to paying farmers for things they're doing anyway.

Senator Harkin issued a statement in response to the proposal shifting funds away from the CSP:

"The House bill perpetuates the damage to conservation and the environment caused by the previous two Congresses and the Bush administration. Farmers need more conservation funding on agricultural land, yet the House bill doesn't provide it. We need to devote funding to providing farmers the tools they need to produce the food, fiber and fuel America needs, while also producing the environmental benefits like clean water and abundant wildlife that come from good conservation."

Sustainable agriculture advocates were baffled by the development.  The Minnesota Project's Loni Kemp told Agriculture Online:

Loni Kemp, a senior policy analyst at the Minnesota Project, another member of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, told Agriculture Online that Peterson's proposal came as a shock to many in the conservation community.

And Kemp thought she might have known. On April 19, she was among about a dozen who testified at a hearing on conservation programs before a House Agriculture subcommittee. . . .

"Every single farm group and conservation group has included funding to let farmers have access to the conservation security program," she said. "There is no opposition to the program out here in the countryside."

In a statement released to the press, the Minnesota Project objected to robbing Peter to pay Paul for conservation:

Pitting conservation programs against each other for a shrinking piece of the pie does not lead us forward at all.

Farmers in Walz's district have benefited both from the CSP and from the programs Peterson favors.

Farms in the Blue Earth, Root, and Redwood watersheds have been eligible for CSP contracts. The three watersheds include parts of 15 of the 22 counties that make up the First. The Land Stewardship Project (LSP), a major proponent of CSP, maintains an office in Lewiston in the southeast corner of the First. Tim Gieseke, who wrote Conservation Security Program Drives Resource Management, An Assessment of CSP Implementation in Five Midwestern States for the Minnesota Project, farms in Walz's district.  Gieseke briefed Walz's incoming staff about farm policy in late December.  

Throughout the First, consumers flock to farmers' markets and buy from farms run on the community-supported agriculture model. Especially in the trending-blue southeast corner of the district, sustainable agriculture and organic farming are booming. Like the  co-op in St. Peter, programs like CSP help farmers meet grwoing consumer demands for environmentally-friendly food.

Not surprisingly, Walz confirmed Saturday that he is a CSP backer. In February, the Fillmore County Journal reported that Walz supports LSP Farm Bill Priorities:

Farmer Brad Hodgson urged Walz to help build a bigger Conservation Security Program to promote conservation on farmland. Walz replied "nothing was more popular than CSP across the country" and agreed the application procedure needed to be simplified and made continuous. He advocated fully funding CSP and expanding it to state or even nationwide. CSP has had $4 million stripped from it since 2002. Walz informed the group that full funding of CSP ($7.5 billion) was equal to only six weeks of U.S. spending in Iraq.

Walz's meeting with LSP was one of 15 Farm Bill listening sessions held during congressional district work breaks. Testimony came from farmers, rural activists and commodity groups. The Winona Daily News reported:

Walz will find constituents in lockstep on some broad topics. Take the Conservation Security Program, for instance. Most state agriculture organizations will agree that Congress should expand its funding. But the devil, as always, will be in the details.

"We want to make sure that program works effectively for producers so it doesn't get overburdened by what activists want to create," said Bob Lefebvre, executive director of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association. "We don't want it forcing dairy producers into a pigeon hole."

Here's where EQIP dollars for livestock operations come in. According to the National Family Farm Coalition, EQIP was originally designed to help smaller, family scale farms to become more environmentally sound; payments were capped at $10,000 per year, with 5-years caps of $50,000. During the drafting of the 2002 Farm Bill, corporate livestock interests convinced Congress to raise the five-year cap to $450,000.

Some in southern Minnesota favor the larger payments. Dairy is important in southeastern Minnesota where herds tend to be smaller than 100 cows, although many producers feel pressure to expand their herds or get out. All of Minnesota's top ten pork producing counties are located in the First; the state's pork producers' association is headquartered in North Mankato, across the Minnesota River from Walz's home town.  However, while many of Minnesota's family farm corporations are large CAFO operations, corporations such as Smithfield are bared by state law from owning farms in Minnesota. While the pork producers and other livestock groups want EQIP grants to stay remain at $450,000 over a six-year span, sustainable farming groups would like to return to the smaller caps. Past attempts to push back to 1990s-era caps have failed: a 2003 attempt by Iowa Republican Charles Grassley to rollback the payments was blocked in the Senate.

Walz said Saturday that some in Washington had speculated that Peterson might have hit Harkin's CSP program in order to gain leverage in another area where the chairs clash. As CQ Today notes, Peterson seeks permanent crop disaster fund for farmers, while Harkin prefers to boost crop insurance.

The rookie congressman cautioned against demonizing Peterson in the coming fight, noting that much of the issue had its source in Congress's return to paygo rules. Walz's reluctance to castigate the chair is partly personal style: as evidenced by the full dance card of Farm Bill listening sessions, the freshman prefers "open and honest discussion" about difficult decisions to divisiveness.

Will Walz stick with his constituents on CSP?  Will last summer's trip to Minnesota's Farmfest and a pork chop on a stick turn Nancy Pelosi into putty in Collin Peterson's plans for the Farm Bill?  

Let key representatives know you support fully funding CSP. And tune in to the live streaming audio of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research mark-up session on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern time.